Faceless Director of Ethiopian Intelligence, Getachew Assefa Replaced By Major General Adem Mohammed of Air Force, Army Chief Samora Also Replaced

New Premier of Ethiopia, Dr. Abiy Ahmed, has started to gradually consolidate power by replacing long serving “untouchable” head of the Ethiopian National Defence Force General Samora Yenus by Major General Seare Mekonen and the faceless Director General of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), Getachew Assefa by Major General Adem Mohammed, who had served as the Head of the Ethiopian Air Force until yesterday.

Abiy is travelling to Uganda upon an official invitation of President Yoweri Museveni.

Getachew Assefa’s replacement is a major news item since his tenure was marked with an arbitrary abuse of power, when countless number of Ethiopian dissidents were killed, abducted, harassed, jailed and exiled. The NISS and the Defense Forces have also been accused of deep nepotism embedding the leadership of both institutions by ethnic Tigreans.

The new officials are not new but their reshuffle could likely give Abiy the leeway to better command and manage rather than the former entrenched leaders.